Cabinet bath-tub



+0 6 e h S S t e w m 2 T T E K 0 I P H P a d o M 0 m Cabinet Bath Tub.

No. 240,313. Patented April 19,1881! Fig' 3.

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Cabinet Bath Tub. No. 240,313. Patented April 19,1881.

Witnesses Inventor.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN H. FIOKETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CABINET BATH-TUB.

SPECIFICATION forming Application filed December 14, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANKLIN H. FIOKETT, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bath-Tubs; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invention relates to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which- Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal central sectional view of my improved bathtub. Fig. 2 represents a front view of the cabinet and all the mechanism attached thereto, except the bath-tub and its attached mechanism, which is removed. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of the drip-pan and waste-pipe with its funnel-shaped chamber. Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal central section of the drip-pan, waste-pipe, rear end of the bath-tub, wastepipe connection or coupling, and overflow-pipe. Fig. 5 represents a perspective view of the arrangement of the pulleys, weights, cords, and bath-tub.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

My invention relates to bath-tubs which may be folded into a cabinet when not in use, and which may be opened therefrom for use or removed from one apartment or building to another.

In the drawings, Arepresents the bath-tub, hinged at its rear or lower end by a hinge or hinges, s, to the cabinet B.

0 represents a weight, preferably constructed so as to form a box, which may be filled with sand, so as to balance the weight of the tub.

(1 represents a cord passed through the weight 0, its ends passing over the pulleysiand down under the pulleys t to the bath-tub A, where they are attached to the upper edge of its rear end, as shown. The weight is so arranged that after the tub A has been raised to or beyond the angle of about forty-five degrees a part of its weightabont one-half--will be taken off from the tub. As the tub approaches more to the perpendicular-say about at an angle of seventy-five or eighty degrees with the horizontal positionthe cord g holds up the rear side of the weight, which will then take off another half of the balance, leaving only onefourth of the weight to act, and which continually grows less until the whole weightis thrown on the cord g, and which cord should be so arranged as to length that the bath-tub will be nearly perpendicular, and which, by its momentum, and also its own weight, by this time overhanging the hinge s, will fold completely into the cabinet B.

A cord, h, is shown attached to the beam z, the lower end of which is fastened to the cord 01 midway between the sides of the box 0, and which will act only afterthe weight 0 has descended from its extreme upper position near the pulleys'i to the end of the cord h, previously so arranged that it will begin to act when the bath-tub has been raised from the horizontal to about an angle of forty-fi e degrees, after which itis plain that onlyone halfof the weight 0 will act on the cords d, as the other half is held by the cord h. By this arrangement the weight, with its cords, acts on the bath-tub with increasing or decreasing force at the desired points, so as to keep it in uniform, or nearly uniform, weight, and thus making it easy to operate.

Afalse bottom, 6, is shown in the cabinet, to which the hinges s are attached, but which may be dispensed with if the hinges are applied to the outer sides of the bath-tub and inner sides of the cabinet, or the lower part of the hinge may be cast in the dripping-pan, as shown in Fig. 5.

To the outer end of the bath-tub is attached a waste-pipe, t, provided with a strainer, u, rubber packing 2;, into which works the plug w,-and to the waste-pipe t is also attached an overflow-pipe, 8.

On the floor, under the cabinet, is placed a drip-pan, 19, provided with a standard, 00, having a notch, w, and braces 3 Into the said .notch 00 is placed a waste-pipe, q, having a funnel-shaped chamber, (1 provided with an annular cap, g which holds into its place the rubber packing a. The pipe q is held in its place in the notch 01; by means of the nut g, which is screwed up tightly against the standard w, and is resisted by the shoulder formed by the funnel-shaped chamber g thereby firmly and adjustably holding the pipe in place, so as to fit accurately to the end of the wastepipe t when the bath-tub is down for use. The drip-pan p is made large enough to catch all the dripping from the waste-pipe it when the tub is raised into the cabinet, and a bead, e, is placed on the upper and inner edge of the lower end of the bathtub, so as to prevent any drain or dripping from falling on the floor. A small drain-pipe, d empties the drip-pan into the waste-pipe q.

The weight 0 is inclosed in a box, j, to the front side of which is hinged a cover, m, of the same width as the box j, which is made in width so as to passjust within the inner sides of the bath-tub.

Along the inner sides of the cabinet are securely fastened strips n, the inner edges of which are flush with the inner edges of the casing 61 a portion of which is broken away on each side, so as to show the ends of the strips 12. Between the strips n and the outside of the box j are strips 1, hinged to the rear side of the cabinet, and their front ends resting on the sides of the bath-tub,which,when raised, will raise the strips 1 up out of the way, and which drop down and rest upon the end of the tub when it is let down, while the cover 92?, drops down into the tub as the supportis removed from under it, and which rises up with the end of the tub and rests upon it when the bath-tub is in use,'thus closing up the cabinet below the level of the top of the bath-tub automatically.

Swinging faucets k and supply-pipes 0 may be attached to one or both strips 12.

The operation of my improved cabinet bathtub is as follows, viz: When not in use the tub A is folded within the cabinet B, so that the bottom of the tub is flush with the easing 61 The weight, when properly arranged, will hang on the cord 9 and incline backward. When the bath-tub swings out of the cabinet it draws the ends of the cords d with it and raises the weight 0 from its inclined position into the vertical, thus gradually throwing more of its weight upon the cords (Z and h, the two cords (I together and cord h each, respectively, carrying one-half of the weight 0 until it is raised high enough to bring the end of the cord h on a level with the bottom of the pulleysff, after which the whole weight of c is thrown on the cord d. By this time,if the cords are properly arranged, the bath-tub has come out so as to form an angle with the floor of about fortyfive degrees or less, and after which, until it strikes the floor, it is resisted by the full power of the weight 0. The hinged side pieces, 1, lying on the edges of the sides of the tub, follow it, and the cover at is caught at its outer end and raised up by the end pieces of the bathtub. In the drawings it is shown raised up as a lid.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that the weight 0 may be made slightly heavier than the resistance of the weight of the tub, so that the tub will raise itself automatically into the cabinet after the Water has flowed out, and which acted as aweight to keep it down while in use.

During the above-described motion of the bath-tub on its hinges s the waste-pipe it, permanently attached to the tub, passes into the funnel-shaped end g and against the rubber packing c, and .thereby makes a perfect watertight joint with the outer part, q, of the wastepipe, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

Water is let into the bath-tub by means of the faucetk, and the overflowpasses out through the pipe '8 into the pipe t.

Springs may be substituted for the weight; but I prefer the weight, on account of its economy and reliability.

It will be observed that the plug to, with its rubber packing v, is arranged in the vertical end of the bath-tub, and is made rounding or oval lengthwise, as shown, so that it may be withdrawn from its seat by a vertical pull, which could not bedone ifthe plug were formed in the usual way or its seat made of metal and unyielding. This construction makes its use much more convenient.

A mirror may also be placed on the bottom of the bath-tub, which is otherwise finished as a door with panels, to thereby enhance the utility as well as beauty of the apparatus.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A bath-tub arranged to swinginto acabinet, in combination with a weight arranged to increase or decrease its force automatically proportioned to its varying resistance, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination, with thecabinet B, bathtub A, and hinges s, of the weight 0, provided with the pulleys ff, cords g, h, and d, and pulleys t and i, all arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The automatically-conpling waste-pipes t and q, arranged so as to form a continuous waste-pipe when the tub is swung upon the floor, in combination with the drip-pan 12, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with the bath-tub arranged to swing on hinges 8 into and out of the cabinet B, of the automatically-operating covers Z and m, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with the bath-tub A, ar-

ranged to swing on hinges 8 into and out of v the cabinet B, of the automatically-coupled waste-pipes t and q, drip-pan p, and overflow s, substantially as described.

6. In combination with a bath-tub provided with a horizontal outlet-pipe, t, and elastic annular plug-seat o, the longitudinally-ovalshaped plug w, constructed to operate substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In combination with the automaticallycoupling pipes t and q, one of which is attached to a bath-tub constructed to swing on hinges s, and provided with the elastic packing o, the drip-pan 19, provided with the drain d substantially as and for the purpose specified.

FRANKLIN H. FIOKETT.

Witnesses:

WM. ZIMMERMAN, F. A. HERRING. 

